Author: Carol Purves

A Changing Garden

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I must share with you the joy that my garden gives me. As some of my followers will know, I came into possession of my small garden last September. At that time it consisted of a very poor quality lawn and border paths of shillies (stones). There was no soil I could plant anything into. Since then with a little help but mostly on my own I have started to make changes.

The shillies have nearly all been taken away. (I had plenty of help with that.) Bit by bit I have replaced them with soil and then topped it up with bark; I don’t want to spend all my time weeding. I’ve planted the few plants I brought with me and bought a few annuals. Annuals are hard work as they only last one year, but they do give instant colour. I bought nine or ten shrubs and will get more benefit of them next year.

May is such a wonderful month, it is when everything is coming to life. I’ve decided to have a No Mow May, but more about that later. Every time I go out into my garden, once or twice a day, I think I can see a slight difference, a new bud has appeared here or a few more leaves are on a shrub there. Self-seeded plants are beginning to grow and every few weeks I record the progress with a photo.

I feel so blessed to have this garden and I watch the improvements and changes that God makes. I am happy to be part of His work.

God’s Might and Power

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As I suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, which is a form of M.E. I often feel completely exhausted. I have to rest when I would rather be up and doing. Sometimes I miss or need to cancel engagements and don’t do the fun things I would like to do. If I choose to ignore the warming signs I pay for it with a longer time in bed.

In spite of this I have a thankfulness, there is so much to be thankful for. With this condition I do not suffer any pain, just this tremendous weariness. My forced time of resting prevents me from having ‘burn out’, all blessings. All actions needs to be purposeful as every minute is precious. There is more time to be with God and read my Bible. Though on many occasions i fall asleep, God understands and is with me. He gives me a compassion for others. Although it may sound strange, there are blessings in this condition and it is all in God’s plan for my life.

A People Day

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At the end of yesterday I was exhausted as I had been interacting with people all day. The morning was spent having a coffee with one of my previous neighbours. It proved to be a most enjoyable time. Then in the afternoon I joined in with a social activity where I now live and then went to visit a neighbour who has just moved in. During the evening when I hoped to relax, a friend kindly brought round some plants for my new garden, out of the blue an old college friend phoned and another phoned who needed to relay some urgent news to me. I belatedly phoned a single mother I knew, who had been struggling.

In every encounter I felt I had acted within God’s will. It was His plan that I should have all these encounters. Some conversation had been on Christian matters, some had not. I hoped that each contact had been of a positive nature for every individual. I went to bed tired but having a feeling that I had acted within His guidance.

My day made me think about Jesus, dozens of people claimed His attention every day. I know He was divine but He was also human. No wonder He had at times to get away from people and His responsibilities and just be with His Father. I want to thank God that He has put so many people in my life who want to spend time with me, even though, or because, I am a Christian.

Draw Near

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‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.’ James 4:8

Along with all the prophets, Elijah led a prayer-filled life. In 1 Kings 17 we read of him in conversation with God as he proclaims ‘In the name of the Lord, the living God of Israel , whom I serve,’ as he tells Ahab there will be no rain for two or three years. He then obeyed the Lord’s command and went to the brook of Cherith. He was still communicating with God when he went to the town of Zarephath. Elijah had great wisdom but not enough power to survive the drought. He needed to talk to God about it.

In the following chapters we read of Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal. Those prophets had power but nothing compared to Elijah’s God and it was on this God that Elijah depended. Verse after verse we read of him talking to God. Then in further chapters we read of him fleeing from Ahab and hiding in the wilderness. It is there that God comes to him in the form of a still small voice

Heavenly communication is not broken for this prophet of God. Today we have our own Ahab and prophets of Baal to contend with. God is still willing and anxious to be in communication with us. We only need to be willing ourselves.

How Do We Build?

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‘Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay or straw, each one’s work will become manifest, his work will be shown for what it is. 1 Corinthians 3:12

It is not always remembered today how much of our society has been founded on Christian principles. Many institutions which are still active today have been started by Christians. Christian principles were at the beginnings of nursing and medical practices with Florence Nightingale, who because she was a Christian wanted to improve the condition of those who were sick. We can think of William Booth who was moved by the plight of the poor in the East End of London. He dedicated his life to improving their lot and finally founded the Salvation Army.

Christren’s homes were started by people like George Muller who appalled by the conditions of the orphaned children in Bristol opened four large orphanages to cope with the problem. They were funded by faith alone. Many other Christian orphanages followed suite.

Gold, silver, or precious stone, hay, wood or hay, I wonder what building materials have we been using in our own lives. Have we relied on our own resources or have we relied on God? In our own strength our good works are worthless.

Strength

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‘The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in Him and He helps me.’ Psalm 28:7

From what we learn from the Bible, King David was a strong upright warrior. His body had been honed on the fields of Bethlehem as He cared for his father’s sheep. Shepherding was no job for a wimp. Although he defeated Goliath by the might of God and not solely his own strength, he was growing from a lad to a strong man. As a king in those days he would have needed his physical might to overcome his many enemies. Then his years of constant flight would again have called on his physical resources.

Throughout all his problems we learn from numerous psalms that he didn’t rely on his own power, he continually called out to God for strength. He knew it wasn’t his might, he got this prowess from God who was a ‘very present help in time of trouble.’

Not a Hand or Foot

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‘Because I am not a hand, I don’t belong to the body.’ 1 Corinthians 12:15

The sermon I heard the other week was particularly telling and well delivered. I’m sure many people were helped and blessed by it in the journey of their Christian lives. The worship band were also at their best as they led our service with their singing and playing. It was lovely to see that some teenagers had joined the group. I almost gave a little sigh as i realised I’m not able to give a sermon and I certainly have not the voice to join the band.

Then I came across the above verse. I’m not led to do certain things but God has other work for me to do, work especially for me. I have time to listen to people and after years of practice, hear what they are not saying. The Lord has given me time to pray; I wish I had the stamina to pray and pray, there is certainly so much need in the world.

I can relate to certain situations because I have lived for a number of decades. Though I never say ‘ I know, I’ve been through the same experience,’ because the conversations are about them and not me. God has a particular role for me in life. It is not for me to hanker after other forms of service. God knows what I am best at; that is where He will direct me.

Another Day

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‘I pray that I may proclaim the gospel as I should’ Colossians 4:4

Today is another day in my life, just one of thousands which have been granted to me during my life span. I’ve no idea whether this will be a day when I can share my love of God with others or whether it will be a day where there will be no such opportunities. God is the one who knows.

If it is to be a productively spiritual day, I pray that I ‘may proclaim the message clearly and that I may make the most of every opportunity guided by the Holy Spirit. On the other hand it may be a day when I speak to very few people or the opportunity for witnessing may not arise. Whatever kind of day it is or maybe a mixture of both, I can still act as a follower of Christ. My speech can still be seasoned with salt. As a Christian I am never off duty. As I make sure people know my beliefs, others will be watching me . Even a smile from a Christian can be one that portrays love. It can have an effect. It’s not just my actions but my words as they are backed by the Holy Spirit if I dedicate them to God.

A Different Mission Field

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These few weeks I’ve been using taxis quite a bit. It has been expensive but one compensation has been the conversations I’ve had with the taxi drivers. As I have a captive audience for about 15 minutes, with God’s help, I’m able to steer the talk round to spiritual matters. Sometimes as the church is my destination, that makes the conversation even easier.

Yesterday a driver told me that there was no difference between the Islam faith and Christianity. I couldn’t let that go as I explained that Islam thought Jesus was a good prophet while Christianity knew Jesus to be the Son of God. The driver and myself agreed that politics and religion were two subjects which should never be discussed. It was no surprise to me that for the rest of the journey we talked about ‘religion’ and my faith. Nine out of ten journeys are spent talking about the Saviour. What a wonder is that!

Probably all evangelism costs us something, in my case it is financial, but it is so worthwhile. One day, with God’s help I described to a driver that I was a Christian She driver then told me, ‘I’m a Christian too.’ That was a lovely journey and as we parted we promised to pray for each other

No Dawn Chorus

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‘And night will be no more.’ revelation 22:5

How wonderful it is to hear the dawn chorus. At this time of year it occurs quite early, so obviously I often miss it. When I’m awake at this time, I hear different types of bird calls and chirps as the dark sky gradually fades and over the horizon the sun starts to rise, though still tucked up in bed I don’t actually see this.

Then I read in the Bible that in heaven there will be no more night. No night or dawn means no dawn chorus. We can’t start to imagine what heaven will actually be like, our finite minds can’t grasp the wonders of it. We have little glimpses through the words of the Bible but we do know that the sun will be no more because we will be able to gaze on the Son. The birds will be myriads and myriads not declining numbers as we have here. The most colourful and beautiful will be flying all around us along with lovely butterflies. .

As I lie in bed with my fitful waking and sleeping, I try to imagine what heaven will be like, I have no idea whether we will have sleeping and waking, or will it just be restful? But I know we will be in God’s presence and when things get a little hard down here, I dream and wait.